The day of the meeting has arrived. The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), the Federal Reserve body that regulates Washington's monetary policy, will meet shortly. An appointment that has been awaited for months, which could sanction the end of the stimuli that have revived American finance from the post-Lehman Brothers collapse and helped to make the S&P500 index gain 150% compared to the lows of March 2009.
The central bank will announce its decisions on Wednesday. This time the focus will not be placed – as usually happens – on interest rates, but on quantitative easing and the possibility of a reduction in the volume of purchases, the so feared by some and much desired by others "tapering".
The break, if there will be, will not be traumatic. Central bankers have repeatedly made it clear that the economy will not lose the $85 billion injected into the system each month through Fed asset purchases in one fell swoop. It will be a gradual exit. The problem is figuring out how much and when. For experts, the FOMC is expected to announce a 10 billion dollar reduction in monthly purchases.
